Mourinho: Chelsea should have stuck with me

Jose Mourinho has taunted Chelsea ahead of their Champions League reunion insisting: "You should have stuck with me if you wanted to win more titles."

The Inter Milan boss welcomes his former club to the San Siro a week tomorrow, bidding to take a first-leg advantage in the knockout-stage clash.

Mourinho lifted two titles, the FA Cup and two League Cups between 2004 and 2007 at Stamford Bridge - a haul establishing him as one of the world's top bosses.

Chelsea have won just one trophy - last season's FA Cup - since he was sacked by Roman Abramovich.

Mourinho said: "Chelsea have suffered in the last two years, and it's no coincidence that their decline happened after I left.

"We had a unique relationship as a manager, players and fans, and when you break that, it's not easy to fix. They've had a lot of coaches since and maybe some didn't have the mentality for the club. Maybe they tried to change too much of what we put in place.

"I knew there was no time for a long-term plan with the owner they have at Stamford Bridge. You must win the title in your first season or say bye-bye. I gave them what they needed but I always knew it wasn't a job that would last forever. Maybe they would've been better off sticking with me than changing manager when they did.'

Of the four managers to succeed him, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, only Hiddink has clinched silverware, winning the FA Cup last year.

The Portuguese also added spice to the clash by insisting he does not expect his poor relationship with current Blues boss Ancelotti to improve.

Mourinho, who was speaking in the current edition of Nuts magazine, added: “Ancelotti is no friend of mine and this won't change. In England, you're shown respect if you're a foreign coach who comes in and offers his experience and knowledge.

"But in Italy, this respect only comes if you're born as an Italian. Someone like me, the foreigner, isn't considered worthy of being here. This is why I say I was happier working in England.

"Inter have asked me to try to win the Champions League for them, and I'll attempt to give them this – so they're stuck with me for a little while yet! Now we have to play an important couple of matches against Chelsea and this is obviously a very special game for me.

"But I'm a part of Chelsea's history forever and they'll always be a big part of me. Let's see if Ancelotti can finish his time at Chelsea with a record as good as mine!"